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Heat Rocks — Arts
Heat Rocks

Scorching guests and sizzling records: join music writer Oliver Wang and music supervisor Morgan Rhodes each week as they invite their favorite artists, critics and scholars for in-depth conversations about the albums that shape our lives. Each week our special guests will take you deep into their heat rocks from the world of hip-hop, soul, dance, jazz, funk and more. Get with us!

Latest Episodes:

Jamie Stewart on Otis Redding's "The Very Best of Otis Redding" (1992) Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

The Album: Otis Redding The Very Best of Otis Redding (1992)

Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart is the son of a record producer and session player who blessed him with the gift of The Very Best of Otis Redding, the 1992 compilation of sixteen of the best songs from the late Otis Redding's catalogue. His father gave him instructions for listening - the charge to learn all about feel.

We talked about the nuances of jabs and riffs and Otis Redding's pathos, his restraint, Otis' use of "uncool words" his penchant for the word "lovely", and his wonderfully nuanced cover of the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction".

We discussed the sound Memphis music - Stax/Volt, the musicianship, the organic country friend soul sound of the label, and how that sound benefitted Otis Redding.

What Jamie Stewart learned most from Otis Redding was awareness, how beats affect emotion, awareness of feel and how rhythm and emotion impact singing.

It was a great conversation about a career and a life interrupted.

Xiu Xiu's newest album Girl with Basket of Fruit, releases 02/08/2019 via Polyvinyl.

Check out the music video for their newest single Scisssssssors.

Editor's note: Xiu Xiu was formed in San Jose, but the band is now LA-based.

More on Jamie Stewart

Xiu Xiu Announces New Album (Pitchfork)
Wondering, Maybe: An Interview with Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu (Pop Matters)
Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart talks about his 14 year love of birdwatching (SCPR)
Twitter | Bandcamp

Show Tracklisting (all songs from The Very Best of Otis Redding unless indicated otherwise):

I've Got Dreams to Remember
Shake
Pain in My Heart
Otis Redding: Ole Man Trouble
Try a Little Tenderness
Frank Sinatra: Try a Little Tenderness
The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)
Satisfaction
Respect
I've Been Loving You Too Long
Jay-Z and Kanye West: Otis
I've Got Dreams to Remember
These Arms of Mine
Otis Redding: Free Me
Otis Redding: Hard to Handle
Otis Redding: Change Gonna Come
Otis Redding: Try a Little Tenderness (Live on Upbeat)

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there.

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Open Mike Eagle on Ol Dirty Bastard's "Return to the 36 Chambers" (1995) Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

The Album: Ol Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers (1995)

"Ain't no father to his style." That's how Ol Dirty Bastard was introduced to the world on 1993's Enter the 36 Chambers by hip-hop's posse supreme, the Wu Tang Clan. At the time, we got an inkling of ODB's eccentricity but on that first Wu album, so overloaded with personalities, it was hard to pluck him out of the stream and think "he might be the Clan's most memorable talent" but two years later, sandwiched between a stream of solo efforts by Method Man, the GZA, Raekwon and Ghostface, ODB put the world on notice with Return to the 36 Chambers. Here was Big Baby Jesus aka Dirt McGirt in all his weird, wonderful glory, with a raspy, rumbling voice that was like no other, singing and rapping in a way that was either wholly unhinged, creatively brilliant or perhaps, both.

These are the part of the mysteries that we tried to unpack with the help of Open Mike Eagle. He's no stranger to Max Fun listeners as OME is half the team behind Tights and Fights, when he's not also helping host the Secret Skin or Conversation Parade podcasts. He also, of course, is a prolific MC himself, with well over a dozen EPs and LPs to his name including last year's What Happens When I Try to Relax. As you'll hear, Return to the 36 Chambers wasn't just OME's intro to Dirt Dog, it was how he discovered the Wu and he, and hip-hop, would forever be changed.

More on Open Mike Eagle

"Open Mike Eagle on the Economics of Being an Indie Rapper" (Pitchfork)
Interview with Billboard about What Happens When I Try To Relax
Website | Twitter |Bandcamp

More on Return to the 36 Chambers

"Return To The 36 Chambers reinvented the solo record in its eccentric creator’s image" (AV Club)
Album review (Focus Hip Hop)
"9 Things You Probably Didn't Know" about Return to the 36 Chambers (Highsnobiety)

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Return to the 36 Chambersunless indicated otherwise):

Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Intro
Brooklyn Zoo
GZA: Investigative Reports
Hippa to da Hoppa
Thelonius Monk: Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are
Cuttin' Headz
Raw Hide
Brooklyn Zoo
Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Goin' Down

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there.

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Chani Nicholas on Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual" (1983) Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

The Album: Cyndi Lauper She's So Unsual (1983)

She's So Unusual dropped October 14th, 1983, and introduced much of the world to Queens' pop punk tough girl Cyndi Lauper. She presented as a colorful character with colorful hair and colorful homies and charmed her way into pop culture with ten tracks recorded for CBS at the Record Plant, NYC.

The former front woman for rockabilly band Blue Angel took a demo written by Philly rocker Robert Hazard and retooled it to become an anthem for her and the Eighties. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was the hit single that launched She's So Unusual and Cyndi Lauper into fame and led the album to platinum success, with six singles, two Grammy Awards, and critical acclaim for days.

She's So Unusual was the pick of astrologer/activist Chani Nicholas, who joined us to break down the relevance and resonance of the album in her life, Cyndi's star appeal, the queer gaze present on the album, Cyndi's quirky Cancerian coolness, and the her impact on music and the masses.

More on Chani Nicholas

Meet the Woman Bringing Social Justice to Astrology (Rolling Stone)
There's a Reason for Chani Nicholas's Cult Following (Shondaland)
Where Astrology and Social Justice Meet: A Q&A with Chani Nicholas (Rewire.News)
Twitter | Instagram

More on She's So Unsual

Classic Album: She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper (Classic Pop)
30 Years of Pop Perfection: Why Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual" Holds Up" (Complex)
Wikipedia Entry on "She's So Unusual"

Show Tracklisting (all songs from She's So Unsual unless indicated otherwise):

Time After Time
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Money Changes Everything
She Bop
Divinyls: I Touch Myself
When You Were Mine
Prince: When You Were Mine
When You Were Mine
Money Changes Everything
The Brains: Money Changes Everything
Time After Time
Money Changes Everything
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Early Guitar Demo
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Demo
Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Mayer Hawthorne on Parliament's "The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein" (1976) Jan 03, 2019

Show notes

The Album: Parliament: The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976)

In the 1970s, no single artist was as influential in transforming the sound of funk as George Clinton. If the funk of the late '60s was embodied in the sparse, frenetic rhythms of James Brown, Clinton filled out and polished the sound across the '70s, with beefy banks of horns and raucous guitars. By the time The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein came out in the mid 1970s, the P-Funk sound was in full flower and that's when a young DJ from outside Detroit crossed paths with The P.

Mayer Hawthorne, back when, was still known as DJ Haircut but a move to Los Angeles in the 2000s lead to a transformation into the smooth crooner we know of him today. Besides the four solo studio albums he’s recorded, he’s also one-half of the retro boogie team known Tuxedo(alongside Jake One) as well as half of the post-punk n’ funk duo, Jaded Incorporated, (alongside 14KT). Fun fact: Jaded Inc’s 2014 album The Big Knock was released by Casablanca Records, long-long time home to Parliament’s recordings, including The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein.

More on Mayer Hawthorne

"Tuxedo's Mayer Hawthorne & Jake One Play 'Elegant Funk' and Dress the Part No Matter What" (Billboard)
Hawthorne Radio (Soundcloud)
Website | Twitter |Facebook

More on The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein

"Masters of the Form" (Popmatters)
Clones entry from "P-Funk Albums From Worst to Best" (Stereogum)
Album review (Drowned In Sound)

Show Tracklisting (all songs from The Clones of Dr. Funkensteinunless indicated otherwise):

Prelude
Parliament: Body Language
Digital Underground: The Humpty Dance
Dr. Funkenstein
Ice Cube: Steady Mobbin
Parliament: P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)
NWA: 1-900-2-COMPTON - Interlude
Disco D: Ghettotronics
Funkin for Fun
OutKast: Funky Ride
OutKast: Liberation
The Parliaments: All Your Goodies Are Gone
Parliament: All Your Goodies Are Gone
Rose Williams and George Clinton: Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good
Parliament: Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good
Gamin on Ya
Dr. Funkenstein
The Ohio Players: Funky Worm
Mayer Hawthorne: Lingerie and Candlewax
Do That Stuff
Yo-Yo: Mackstress
I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)
Getten To Know You
Children of Production
Funking for Fun

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there.

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Lynell George on David Bowie's "Young Americans" (1975) Dec 27, 2018

Show notes

The Album: David Bowie Young Americans (1975)

Super cool Grammy winning writer and archivist Lynell George came to know David Bowie's music through celebrated Los Angeles radio station KGFJ. KGFJ blasted the sounds and she received them courtesy of a wrap around Panasonic radio. (Salute!)

She was attracted to the Philly soul sound ever present on David Bowie's Young Americans because Philly soul was in her DNA as she is the daughter of a Philadelphia Native. David Bowie's desire to pay homage to both the black soul music he was fond of and Aretha Franklin, was a shift that most critics weren't prepared for.

We talked about the title track as an ahead-of-its-time commentary on gentrification, UK artists and their love affair with R&B music and the thin line between festishization and fascination.

Sax solos, guitar solos, soulful arrangement galore, Young Americans was the sound of Philadelphia and the sounds of blackness.

Best quote EVER, "you feel like you're walking through humidity" (Lynell George)

She wooed us and schooled us. We'd expect nothing less from a historian and an OG member of David Bowie's fan club.

More on Lynell George

Lynell George Sings Los Angeles (Boom California)
Four Questions for Author and Grammy Winner Lynell George (Publishers Weekly)
Twitter | Website

More on Young Americans

Young Americans Review (BBC)
David Bowie: Young Americans" (Pop Matters)
Wikipedia entry on Young Americans

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Young Americans unless indicated otherwise):

Young Americans
Fame
David Bowie: Let's Dance
David Bowie: TVC15
Young Americans
Right
Across the Universe
Young Americans
Can You Hear Me
Somebody Up There Likes Me
The Flares: Foot Stomping (Part 1)
David Bowie: Footstompin'
Fascination
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Fascination
Fame

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there.

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Holiday Music Special with Alonso Duralde Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

The Albums: Vince Guraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) Andy Williams' The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963) Stax Records' Christmas in Soulsville (2007)

Heat Rocks was hyped to have film critic Alonso Duralde (The Wrap), one of the hosts of Maximum Fun's movie podcast Who Shot Ya? guest with us to talk about our favorite Christmas songs, holiday fare, songs that should play when it's cold outside, baby.

We visit the canon of Christmas music over the years (Andy Williams 1963 The Christmas Album, Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas and Stax Record's 2007 compilation Christmas In Soulsville and across genres and styles - crooners, sweeping orchestral cinematic pieces, summer songs vs. winter songs, modern Christmas traditions, etc.

Alonso broke down the power of nostalgia as it relates to Christmas music and how our tastes in music are informed by tradition.

Don't be a grinch. Listen to this wintery wonderland of an episode about favorite Christmas tracks.

More on Alonso Duralde

Show Tracklisting

Booker T and the MG's: Winter Wonderland (Take 2)
The Waitresses: Wrapping Paper
Ella Fitzgerald: The Christmas Song
The Shins: Wonderful Christmastime
Michael Jackson: Little Christmas Tree
Wild Man Fischer: I'm A Christmas Tree
Brian McKnight: Let It Snow
Frank Sinatra: White
Andy Williams: Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells
Andy Williams: Happy Holiday/ The Holiday Season
Andy Williams: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Andy Williams: Sweet Little Jesus Boy
Mariah Carey: All I Want for Christmas is You
Vince Guraldi: Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)
Vince Guraldi: Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)
Vince Guraldi: Skating
Vince Guraldi: O Tannenbaum
Vince Guraldi: The Christmas Song
Otis Redding: Merry Christmas, Baby
The Staple Singers: Who Took the Merry out of Christmas
Albert King: Santa Claus Wants Some Loving
The Emotions: Black Christmas
Isaac Hayes: The Mistletoe and Me
Booker T and the MG's: Winter Wonderland (Take 2)
Nate Dogg: Be Thankful
Little Johnny Taylor: Please Come Home for Christmas
Juice Crew: Cold Chillin' Christmas
The Free Design: Close Your Mouth It's Christmas
Kenny Bobien: Let Us Adore Him (Come O Ye Faithful)

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Macy Gray on Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (2010) Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

The Album: Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy(2010)

2018 has been a tough year for Kanye West and Kanye West fans. He's showed up in unlikely places and waxed problematic about virtually everything , earned the ire of some of the West Coast's most loyal representatives, inspired critical analysis, all the while releasing Ye, his eighth solo album, an album as part of a group, and executive producing albums for Teyana Taylor, Pusha T and Nas.

Sure, he's been booked and busy, but also the center of controversy and speculation.

In 2010, he embraced his controversy, on the thirteen track My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Macy Gray joined us to talk about her fanship and hardcore love of this album, why she bumped one song all the way to Vegas, what caused her to rock a "MAKE KANYE GREAT AGAIN" hat for the 'gram and Kanye's impressive production on the album. We talked about Kanye's choice of samples, what can be learned about Kanye via MBDTF and why this album is great, but not his greatest.

Ironically, we recorded this episode before Kanye's SNL appearance.

Eavesdrop. Please.

More on Macy Gray

Macy Takes Her Love of Life to Town on Ruby (Pop Matters)
Afropunk Interview: Macy Gray
Instagram | Twitter

More on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Show Tracklisting (all songs from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy unless indicated otherwise):

Power
Macy Gray: I've Committed Murder
Macy Gray: Shinanigins
Kanye West: Jesus Walks
Lost in the World
Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes
Dark Fantasy
Aphex Twin: Avril 14th
Blame Game
Gil Scott-Heron: Comment 1
Who Will Survive in America
Bon Iver: Woods
Lost in the World
Monster
Runaway
Power
Devil in a New Dress
Dark Fantasy
Runaway

Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

G Yamazawa on Kanye West's "The College Dropout" (2004) Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

The Album: Kanye West: College Dropout (2004)

Kanye has had a...not great year. From a public relations standpoint, it's been nothing short of a disaster. And yet...'Ye remains one of the most intriguing (if not also infuriating) pop acts we have, evinced to us by the fact that two different guests - rapper G Yamazawa and R&B legend Macy Gray - both asked to talk about Kanye West albums when they came on our show.

By further coincidence, they came on the same day to tape which also happened to be the day of West's now-infamous Saturday Night Live appearance. West was also supposed to drop a new album that evening, Yandhi (spoiler alert: he didn't). Sufficed to say, all things pointed West that day, so much so that we were a little worried about releasing these episodes lest our listeners were suffering from too much Kanye fatigue.

And yet...both conversations (the Macy Gray episode, about My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will drop next week) were so compelling that we couldn't help ourselves. This one, with Yamazawa, was especially great in revisiting the old Kanye, chop-up-the-soul Kanye of College Dropout, where the young producer-turned-rapper came firing out the gate, putting the hip-hop world on notice that "oh sh---, Kanye raps too?" For G Yamazawa, then a young'un growing up in Durham "North Cack," West made a huge impression with his humor, sly politics and of course, the beats. Yamazawa, now relocated to L.A., knows something about sliding between worlds as a former champion spoken word poet turned MC (peep his new Money Is Time album) and together, we discussed what it was like for all of us to discover West's new persona back then, his taste in samples, and what era of West we gravitate towards.

More on G Yamazawa

"Southern Fried Asian: G Yamazawa" (Nerds of Color)
"In Poetry and Hip-Hop, George 'G' Yamazawa Found His Self" (NBC)
Website | Twitter | Facebook

More on College Dropout

"14 Things You Didn't Know About Kanye West's The College Dropout" (Capital Xtra)
"Kanye West's The College Dropout: An Oral History" (Billboard)
"The DNA Of Kanye West's The College Dropout" (Noisey/Vice)

Show Tracklisting (all songs from College Dropoutunless indicated otherwise):

The New Workout PLan
G Yamazawa: Drumma Some
Chaka Khan: Through the Fire
Through the Wire
Last Call
All Falls Down
Slow Jamz
Lil Jimmy Skit
Workout Plan
Spaceship
Little Brother: Slow it Down
Luther Vandross: A House Is Not A Home
Slow Jamz
Marvin Gaye: Distant Lover
Spaceship
The ARC Choir: Walk with Me
Jesus Walks
All Falls Down (Demo)
All Falls Down
Intro
Kanye West: Wake Up Mr. West
Breathe In Breathe Out
Jesus Walks
I'll Fly Away
Get Em High
Last Call
All Falls Down

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

EP62: Iman Omari on J*DaVeY's The Beauty in Distortion (2008) Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

The Album: J*DaVeY The Beauty in Distortion (2008)

Heat Rocks co-host Morgan Rhodes is a huge fan of J*Davey and a huge fan of Iman Omari. Naturally she was beyond thrilled when Iman accepted an invitation to come on Heat Rocks and chose J*Davey's 2008 brilliant debut album "The Beauty In Distortion" to discuss.

J*Davey's breakout project was one of the jewels in LA's emerging future soul scene a decade ago. Their sound, a fusion of soul, synth, funk and pop gained a million fans and caught the ear of tastemakers everywhere.

This album had a profound influence on his production choices pushing him in the direction of avant-garde soul.

More on Iman Omari

Iman Omari Loses Love to 'Another' (Soul Bounce)
Meet MusiKXian Iman OmarI
Instagram | Twitter

More on The Beauty in Distortion

Show Tracklisting (all songs from The Beauty in Distortion unless indicated otherwise):

Division of Joy
Everybody Touch It
Iman Omari: Midnight
Mr. Mister (Future Screw Remix)
Cowboys and Indians
Finer Things
Private Parts
Might as Well
Everybody Touch It
Kim Burrell: Prayer Changes Things
Kim Burrell: Holy Ghost
Private Parts
Cowboys and Indians
Division of Joy
Everybody Touch It
Private Parts
Finer Things
No More
Enterception
Camera (Gangsta)

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

Jeff Weiss on Drakeo the Ruler's "Cold Devil" (2017) Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

The Album: Drakeo the Ruler: Cold Devil (2017)

When we invited L.A. music writer Jeff Weiss to join us, he was adamant that there was only one release he wanted to talk about: Cold Devil, the full-length, acclaimed mixtape that the upstart Los Angeles rapper, Drakeo the Ruler, dropped nearly a year ago. Drakeo is part of the Stinc Team and is helping lead a wave of emergent talents that also includes 03 Greedo, Ketchy the Great and Ralfy the Plug.

The longtime writer behind The Passion of the Weiss music blog, Jeff has been championing Drakeo for several years now and in particular, he's written extensively on the rapper's tumultuous legal challenges, including first interviewing Drakeo when he was locked up. Our conversation touched on Drakeo's legal situation, the rapper's gift of slanguistic gab and the current state of West Coast rap music.

More on Jeff Weiss

Interviews with Drakeo: 1 & 2
Shots Fired Podcast
Website | Twitter

More on Cold Devil

"L.A. rapper Drakeo the Ruler is a man in demand" (LA Times)
Album review (Pitchfork)
"Drakeo The Ruler Is Different, And Different Is Good" (Stereogum)

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Cold Devilunless indicated otherwise):

Out the Slums
Drakeo the Ruler: Mr. Get Dough
Big Banc Uchies
Flu Flamming
Ion Rap Beef
Red Tape, Yellow Tape
Neiman and Marcus Don't Know You
Flu Flamming
Out the Slums
Blamped

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!

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